Naruto: Blinded
by Leaf Bandit
Summary: A few weeks after his graduation Naruto is attacked by two masked shinobi. During the fight Naruto is injured resulting in his blindness. Will he resume his shinobi career with this handicap or will he let fate walk all over him.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't know why I'm doing this. Obviously I don't own Naruto.. This is just an excuse to make this chapter a tiny bit longer.**

"Talk"

_'Thought'_

"**Demon Talk"**

_'__**Demon Thought'**_

_**Village Hidden in the Leaves, October 10**__**th**_

_12 years after the Kyuubi attack_

The streets were littered with civilians and shinobi all making their way home after the long and always exciting Kyuubi Festival. Most children were busy playing games at the many vendors all along the village roads. The games varied from throwing blunted kunai and shuriken at targets to scooping fish out of a small pond using a thin paper cup.

Uzumaki Naruto had chosen not to attend this year's festival. Mainly due to the fact that most of the civilians and even some of the shinobi would give him cold stares. And even a few incidents where some of the more intoxicated people would attempt to harm him.

He couldn't really blame them after learning of his terrible curse. Right before becoming a genin he had been tricked by of the trusted ninja academy teachers into stealing one of Konohas most important items; the forbidden scroll of sealing. Although he couldn't complain too much as he had gotten the chance to learn an extremely power kinjutsu, the kage bunshin no jutsu. After finding out he had been tricked by Mizuki, the traitorous teacher, had tried to attack him and another teacher, Umino Iruka. After a short battle Mizuki threw his demon shuriken at Naruto attempting to end his life. Fortunately for Naruto, his teacher blocked the incoming attack with his own body. After Naruto gave Mizuki a beat down of a lifetime Iruka bestowed his own hitai-ate to Naruto proving that he now was a genin of Konoha.

The sun began to set as Naruto was slowly making his way back to his small apartment located near the Hokage monument. Suddenly he heard a faint sound of a twig snapping in the distance. Even though he wasn't a veteran shinobi, his years of pranking had helped him hone his ability to sense danger and react accordingly to any possible situation he happened to have gotten himself into.

Suddenly he heard the sharp whistling sounds of a kunai heading straight towards him. While his career as a shinobi had been short, he had developed his reflexes to the point where his body would act on its own. Naruto quickly jumped out of the incoming kunai path and landed on a nearby building. He looked up expecting his sensei or perhaps Sasuke, his eternal rival, playing a joke on him. But instead he found a masked man dressed in the standard jonin clothing.

"Wh-who're you?" Naruto asked nervously. On the outside he acted calm and collected as he had been taught in the academy. But on the inside he was scared to death. Naruto was always wary of people he had never met or seen before. He had already had too many incidents with strangers attacking him.

The masked man merely smirked and brandished yet another kunai. Naruto mirrored the man with his own. While Naruto was no pushover, he knew he couldn't take on a seasoned jonin and live to tell the tale. Fortunately for Naruto his sensei Kakashi's house was nearby and he had told Naruto that if he ever needed any help or if he ran into trouble, all he had to do was make it to his house and he would take care of the rest.

Naruto started to calculate his chances of actually getting to his sensei's house when the masked shinobi began arming himself with more kunai and even a few shuriken. Naruto knew he only had a few seconds to make a decision, so he decided the best thing to do in a case such as this was to flee.

Naruto kicked off the two-story building while channeling chakra to his legs and feet which he hoped would give him enough of an advantage over the masked man. He knew many shinobi could also do this but luckily he had a very large chakra reserve and could therefore use this technique for a lot longer than many others.

Naruto and the masked man continued to speed through the village using the landscape to both of their advantage when he felt suddenly felt another presence in front of him. The always optimistic Naruto was hoping it was his sensei, the Hokage, who he had come to see as a grandfather figure or a friendly shinobi who saw him for who he really was.

Suddenly Naruto saw a barrage of kunai heading in his direction. He knew he wouldn't be able to deflect them all so all he could do was get the ones aimed at his vital areas. The next thing he knew was a white hot pain in his left shoulder and right and left legs. He knew immediately, due to experience, that the kunai the two masked shinobi had used were coated in a special type of poison that would slowly and painfully paralyze his body which would eventually cause his organs to fail. While the poison made its way through his system Naruto had made the quick decision to make one final stand before he fell. He quickly pulled a kunai from the holster with his only good arm and wrapped an explosion tag around the hilt of the weapon. He gathered all the strength he had left as he threw the kunai as hard as he could straight up into the night sky. A few hundred feet into the air the tag went off and lit up the sky which could be seen from miles and miles away.

Naruto smiled and thought to himself. 'At least if I don't survive they'll catch the people responsible for this.'

The masked jonin looked up and knew they didn't have much time before more shinobi would come to investigate the large explosion. The leader smirked "If we can't take his life, then maybe we can take something the demon cherishes more." The other man raised an eyebrow at his friend. The only thing he could think of that a demon would cherish is its own life. "What do you mean?" he asked.

His answer was to start walking slowly towards the now kneeling Naruto, removing his last kunai and turning back to his partner. "We'll take his purpose." The man turned back to Naruto and raised the kunai above his head.

Narutos eyes widened. This was it. This was the day he was going to die. And no one was going to remember him. His sensei Iruka would and perhaps his new sensei Kakashi, but that would be it. He looked up at the man and waited for the inevitable to come.

The man swiftly slashed his kunai into Naruto's right eye first. Naruto's scream echoed throughout the village disturbing the people that heard it. Naruto clutched the wound where his eye had been before looking up again and the man took his left eye as well.

The only thing Naruto saw now was darkness. The only thing Naruto felt was pain. And for the first time in his life, he wanted everything to end. By now the amount of blood Naruto was losing was beginning to take its toll in the young boy. The last thing he heard before he slipped into unconsciousness was the subtle sound of a blade piercing flesh, the sounds of footsteps and the touch of a strong person lifting him up and carrying him to God knows where.

_**October 11**__**th**__**: The next day**_

Sarutobi Hiruzen also known as the God of Shinobi was once the man that could cause a grown man to shiver in fear just at the sound of his name. Of course that was a long time ago before time had taken a toll on his body. But the incidents of last night had angered him so greatly that as he walked through the dimly lit hallways of the Konoha Hospital the medical staff as well as the seasoned veterans that occupied its room couldn't help but grovel beneath the powerful man.

Someone had dared to attack the young man he had become extremely attached to. Luckily Kakashi had seen his students last ditch effort and ran to investigate. Kakashi had the unfortunate luck to arrive a minute too late as he saw a masked man plunge his kunai into his young charges eyes essentially blinding him for life. The last thing either of the masked men saw was a blood red eye and the sharp edge of the blade that ended their lives.

The Hokage stopped to take a breath before entering the room he had come to visit. As he walked in he noticed Kakashi sitting in a chair looking down at his student at a rare time where his face wasn't buried in his trademark Icha Icha book.

"It's not fair Hokage-sama. He had just become a shinobi. He had so much talent." Kakashi said quietly. Sarutobi nodded. He had seen how much promise the young boy had. His mind was like a sponge always soaking up information and his limitless energy had made it so he could train for as long as he wanted. But now the boy's career as a shinobi was over because of two men who couldn't see past their own hatred.

Suddenly the two men heard a soft groan and saw the young man began to slowly wake up. The first thing Naruto felt as he regained consciousness was pain.

Sarutobi walked closer to the hospital bed. "How are you feeling Naruto?" Naruto moved his head in the direction of the voice he heard.

"I'm doing alright" he answered in a raspy voice. He had been unconscious for a few days and was more than likely dehydrated. He asked the old man to grab him a glass of water and quickly downed it. Naruto knew there was more than one person in the room but before he could ask who was there his sensei interrupted him. "I'm so sorry Naruto. If only I had been a minute or two early I could have helped more." Naruto could hear the sadness in his sensei's voice as he continued to apologize.

Slowly but surely Naruto became more aware of what was going on around him before he asked the two men a question they had hoped never to answer.

"Jiji, Kaka-Sensei, why can't I see?"

**A/N: **Well there it is. Let me know how you like it. If there are any errors feel free to let me know. If you didn't like it I'm always down to hear some constructive criticism so by all means go ahead and tell me what I did wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't know why I'm doing this. Obviously I don't own Naruto, this is just an excuse to make this chapter a tiny bit longer.**

"Talk"

_'Thought'_

"**Demon Talk"**

_'__**Demon Thought'**_

_**Village Hidden in the Leaves, October 10**__**th**_

_"Jiji, Kaka-Sensei, why can't I see?"_

Kakashi and Sarutobi both looked at each other, neither one wanting to tell the young boy what had happened. After a few moments Sarutobi sighed and sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed. As the Hokage, he was the village's pillar of strength. And now was one of the moments he needed to be strong for the sake of someone else.

"Naruto, before I tell you what happened, I want you to know that no matter what happens myself and Kakashi will always be here for you." Sarutobi started. "The men who attacked you last night, it seems they had a grudge against the Kyuubi you now know is hidden deep within you. I'm so sorry Naruto, but those _men _slashed your eyes with their kunai, and unfortunately the damage was too severe for even our best medical ninja to fix."

During Sarutobi's little speech Naruto kept quiet. Something that was very unnatural for the normally hyperactive and carefree shinobi. This behavior only seemed to depress the Hokage and his most loyal subordinate.

Knowing that the worst was yet to come, Kakashi decided to sit at the foot of Naruto's bed and laid a hand on Naruto's leg to let him know that he was there for him should Naruto need him.

Sarutobi cleared his throat knowing what he said next would crush the boy. But as the Hokage he knew he couldn't choose favorites or make any exceptions. "Naruto, I'm afraid due to your injuries" he started only pausing for moment to compose himself. "I will have to remove you from active duty as a shinobi for the foreseeable future."

And just like that Naruto's world came crashing down. His whole life he had been preparing himself to become a shinobi and eventually the Hokage. His dream had been plucked from his hands. Naruto was silent for a while before asking the Hokage and his sensei if he could be alone for a while. They both looked at each other before getting up and leaving the room.

The moment they left the room, Naruto let his overwhelming sadness come over him. His loss of purpose, his sight and quite possibly his whole life. And even though Naruto felt a sadness he had never felt before, no tears would come.

**The Next Day**

Thanks to the demon that was sealed within him, Naruto was always a fast healer. This was why he was currently being escorted out of the Konoha hospital by the nurse who had been watching over him. As she was pushing him to the entrance the young woman couldn't help but curse the men who had done this to such an innocent boy. She was old enough to know what truly happened to the Kyuubi, but had never blamed him for the destruction it had caused. And now all that was left of the former shinobi was a broken child.

"Alright Naruto-kun, this is where we part ways." She handed Naruto a long wooden stick. "This is to help you see." She also pulled a long black cloth out of her pocket which she also handed over to the boy. "This is just in case you don't want anyone to see what happened."

Naruto reached his hands out to grab the cane and the cloth. He quickly wrapped the cloth around his head to cover both of his eyes. He wouldn't give any of the villagers the satisfaction of knowing what had happened to him, because he knew the only people that knew about what had happened were the Hokage, his sensei and the various doctors and nurses who took care of him.

He grabbed the cane and got up out of the wheelchair. The nurse quickly explained how to use the cane as she had forgotten to earlier. And just like that the boy she had grown fond of in his short visit was gone.

Naruto quickly adapted to using his new cane after accidently bumping into a few people and running into a few garbage cans and walls. He noticed ever time he'd hit the ground he could hear echoes off of some of the nearby obstacles. Another thing he noticed since losing his sight was that his hearing was a little better than it used to. Maybe it was his body compensating for the loss of another sense.

After finally making his way back to his house (or what he hoped was his house), Naruto sat down on his bed. What was he supposed to do now, he thought? His dreams to be the Hokage were over. And he was sure not too many civilians would like him or hire him mainly due to the fact that he was now blind. He was stuck. And he had nowhere to go and nothing to do.

After sitting on his bed for a few minutes he heard the distinct sound of footsteps on his roof. Naruto quickly jolted off his bed and got into a defense position. Naruto didn't trust many people and now since the incident, he trusted people a lot less.

He could hear the footsteps land at his door and walk towards it. He heard a knock. Naruto lowered his defenses. People who were about to attack you didn't knock. Another knock followed. He quickly deduced it was someone who meant him no harm.

"W-Who is it?" Naruto asked.

"It's your favorite sensei." He heard back.

Kakashi. One of the people he trusted.

Naruto opened the door to the spiky headed jonin and walked back towards his living room and sat on his old couch. Kakashi followed after shutting the blonde's door.

"How are you feeling Naruto?" his sensei asked. Naruto could hear the sadness in his voice. "I'm good, don't need to worry about me" he replied. They both knew that was a lie but Kakashi would let Naruto sort this whole thing however he wanted to.

"Listen Naruto, the reason why I came over was bacuse I wanted to apologize. If I had just been little faster, then maybe.." he trailed off. "I've failed you as a sensei and I'm so sorry."

"The nurses told me what happened. That if didn't show up I would have been dead. And for that I thank you. It's all thanks to you sensei that I'm still here."

Kakashi looked up at his former student. The guilt that he felt was slowly washing away. But a small part of it would always be there, and he knew that it wouldn't go away anytime soon. Kakashi cleared his throat and stood up. "I'm sorry to cut this short Naruto but I have to go meet with Sasuke and Sakura."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "Thanks for coming by sensei. Maybe I'll see you later?"

Kakashi smiled to himself and turned around and walked towards the door. He opened the door, paused and turned around. "I sure hope so Naruto."

Kakashi quickly made his way to team 7's training ground. Gone was his habit of being late. It had already ruined one person's life and he wasn't going to be the cause of another. Sasuke and Sakura were already there waiting for him as he walked up.

Sasuke and Sakura were immediately on alert. Their sensei never showed up on time! Sakura decided it must be some sort of genjutsu so she built up a bit of chakra before crying out "release".

Kakashi sighed. This was another sign of why he should start showing up on time. "It's me Sakura."

"I'm sorry sensei, it's just, you're not usually on time." Sakura said sheepishly.

"Well I figured maybe today I should be. I have some bad news about the team." Kakashi started before being interrupted by Sakura. "Speaking of team, where's Naruto?

This was going to be hard and he knew it. While his team was new, they had become quick friends. Even Sasuke who never made any bonds with anyone grew attached to his new teammates.

"As of this morning, Naruto has been removed from active service. He is no longer part of team 7. His replacement should be arriving within a few minutes."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other both thinking the exact same thing. They didn't want a replacement. They wanted Naruto.

Sasuke grew mad quickly. "Why?" he snapped.

Kakashi sighed again. "Due to an unforeseen incident Naruto was injured and the Hokage has released him from duty."

This time it was Sakura's turn to speak. "We want to see him."

If anyone could cheer up the young blonde it would be these two. Kakashi decided to cancel today's team meeting so they could go find their friend. Kakashi pointed them towards Naruto's home and watched them walk away.

By the time Sasuke and Sakura made it to Narutos house it was starting to get dark. They walked up his stairs and knocked on his door. They couldn't hear any noise coming from inside his house or any sounds indicating anyone coming to the door, so they knocked again.

"Who is it?" Narutos voice said from the other side of the door.

"It's us Naruto. Let us in." Sakura exclaimed.

Naruto paused for a moment before deciding to let them in. "its open guys" he said back.

Sakura opened the door slowly and was welcome into the house by darkness. How could Naruto see in this, she thought to herself.

"Hey Naruto why are all the lights off, I can't see a thing!"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I suppose I kinda forgot about that." Naruto replied in a sad tone.

Sasuke quickly located the light switch and flicked it on. It took a few moments before his eyes adjusted to the bright lights.

"Naruto where are you? And why were discharged from the shinobi services? Sakura asked. She was almost afraid of what the answer could be. After all she had seen many older shinobi still on active duty that were missing an arm and even one guy who was missing his leg, although the man discovered the ingenious way to use his battle club as a replacement.

They heard a voice coming from the back of Naruto's apartment which they assumed was his bedroom, as neither of them had been to his house before. "I'm back here guys. Just give me a second"

After a few moments Naruto came through the hallways following his trusty walking cane. Both Sasuke and Sakura immediately recognized what the cane was for and why Naruto had a piece of cloth covering both of his eyes.

Sakura ran forward and pulled Naruto towards her into her arms which surprised him greatly as he wasn't expecting it. "Oh Naruto, I'm so sorry!" Sasuke on the other hand was furious. As an Uchiha he knew one of the worst things imaginable was to take the sight of another person. Even the Uchiha clan saved the punishment for kinslayers (Uchiha who murdered other Uchiha). He decided then and there that if he ever found out who had done this or even helped plan it would face the fury of the last Uchiha.

But the one thing on everyones mind at the moment was now what? What would become of team 7? And what would become of one of their closest friends. Together they would find a way for Naruto to resume his career as a ninja or they would die trying.

**A/N: Alright guys there are another chapter for you. And as always reviews are nice. If there are any grammatical errors or spelling errors please let me know. I am to please!**


End file.
